Happy to have made a quick trip back to Manila to attend the Department's continuing education program for its diplo-lawyers -- my first (and so far only) return to the mother ship since my Sydney posting. So many updates! So many things discovered! To wit:
* do a trip advisor search for hotels to stay at near the home office, and you won't be disappointed in the range of results
this is what happens when you use "rating", "distance" and "masarap raw ang pansit" as your search filters
* the home office lobby now has sleek flat-screen monitors and cool hotel lighting
trip advisor, take note
* there're more batchmates still at the home office than I thought
as batchmate ALIAS DEMON ANUS (center) said, "every now and then, we need more than one car to go for a batch dinner"
* hey, speaking of dinner, the construction at the corner lot next to the home office turned out to be...a premium steak restaurant!
for a while there we thought it would be another Ms. Universal, or something that would show up in trip advisor filters
* batchmate ABHORRENT ROTTEN ODD ASS (center) has left the foreign service but remains most helpful to it.
our little boy is now all grown up and lecturing senior diplomats on the law of the sea
* it's the return of my doppelganger "Cat" and, how shall we put this...he used to be my body-double; now he's double my body
and yet everyone at the home office still confused the two of us!
* IBP now has merch
but no swag
* my first-half of seminar seatmate - who happened to also be my seatmate during the last FSO oral exams (and went on to be batch topnotcher) - is so high midi-chlorian talented I found her casually doodling portraits during lectures
impressive...most impresive
* as for my second-half of seminar seatmate...sigh
.....it's gonna race, it's gonna break, it's gonna move up, to the borderliiiiiine....
Alright then, let's climb, break and move on to our next form of roughhousing: Rugby Union. There are of course a lot of special rules and styles and formats that make Rugby Union distinct from all the other ball-with-frightening-tackling sport codes, but I just simply know it as "The One Where the All Blacks do the awesome Haka". So there was no better place for me to break into the Union scene than catching the Bledisloe Cup, an annual best-of-three match series between titans of the sport Australia and New Zealand. Now, my rooting interests should have been with the host Aussies from the start, but goddam the All Blacks haka is so freaking COOL
even from the cheap seats I grew two chest hairs just watching it
The match itself started a bit slowly and reinforced (at least to my newbie eyes) Rugby Union's reputation as more lumbering and less action-packed than Aussie Rules or Rugby League or 'Murcan Footbaw. The Wallabies were staying close to the heavily-favored All-Blacks in a low-scoring affair, so I couldn't even bandwagon or anything. At halftime, it was Australia 6, New Zealand 5, Some Lucky Rando 1 New Car
highlight of the night
After halftime, however, HOO BOY the All-Blacks just decided enough of this and hit the NOS button and just ran off Try after Try after Try in the blink of an eye
honestly, they were so fast I got no good shots of it
At full-time it was New Zealand 38, Australia 13 (and Some Lucky Rando 1 brand new Land Rover smell). The Aussie fans were left all muttering/tweeting "What the HELL just happened?!?". Sorry, Wallabies. I feel ya, but even this newbie knows greatness when he sees it, and can now - thanks to the All Blacks' performance - better appreciate Rugby Union for the skill, power and beauty it has to offer.
Next to Bondi, it's probably the most popular and well known Sydney-area beach, with a very well-developed neighborhood and it's own ferry service straight to/from the city's Central Business District
If you were to come from the CBD via ferry and you've never been to Manly before, know that you'll be arriving at the calm, boat-filled waters of Manly cove which is not - I repeat NOT - the aforementioned popular and well known Manly beach sodon't be anewbie dork like us and spend most of your day at the cove (as nice as it is) talking yourself into how Manly beach is so popular and well known and great to spend hours at when you ARE NOT EVEN AT MANLY FREAKIN' BEACH
is this it, dada?
No, anak, that's not it! If only your Dada had popped his head up and looked around the corner he would have seen that the ferry wharf leads to a road which leads to a lane which leads to a plaza which leads to a promenade which leads to the world-famous Manly Beach!!!
and if only your dada had done all of this well before sunset and before it was too dark and cold to swim
but the last important thing to know about Manly is: no matter how much of a lame doofus you might feel for not finding the real beach right away, you actually feel pumped and studly walking around the place because of all the positive reinforcement everywhere telling you that just by being there, you are, in fact, goddam MANLY
hell, yeah!
So you're not just visiting any accommodation, you're staying at MANLY beach apartments. You're not just getting something to eat, you're dining at the MANLY yacht club. You're not asking for directions to the beach just anywhere, you're doing it at the MANLY police station.
I speculated a while back that the Consular Corps in non-capital cities didn't seem to have as much social interaction among themselves compared to the Diplomatic Corps in the capital cities. I must have been completely wrong about all that (or maybe someone from the foreign office actually read this blog!), because they just threw a great networking reception for all the working group-level consuls in Sydney, i.e., every member of the Consular Corps who is notthe head of post, i.e., kasali ako!
And a most enjoyable and productive evening it was! Counterparts who had lived in Sydney for years but who never had occasion to work with each other got to meet over drinks...
not quite #nerdprom, but just as endearing
The event was held at the Museum of Sydney which, among many other things, has great exhibits of ancient Asia-Pacific-Australia trade
Sydney was already gearing up back then for the hipster coffee houses to come
It also happened to be ASEAN day, and all the ASEAN consuls were able to stage our own special photo-op (and report it back to our capitals)
TO:ASEAN CONSULS FR:CAPITALS - WHY AREN'T YOU DOING OUR SPECIAL HANDSHAKE?
Best of all, our host from the Foreign Office would raffle off at the end of the event tickets to a prestigious Australian dance company. The winner would be drawn from a big glass bowl containing all of the attending consuls' calling cards -- except I wasn't able to place my card in the bowl! (I'm guessing I was in the bathroom when they started collecting). With literally seconds left on the clock before they drew the prize, I tossed my card from half-court (well, three feet), the card flew through the air, went clean through the bowl mouth and splashed the card pile just as the bowl was being taken away. After mixing the pile up a bit, the host drew a card and read a name...Moi! I joyfully bounded onto the stage -- to the surprise of the host who apparently only intended to announce the winner and not really hand the prize right there up in front.
still, #clutch #poise
So to my original point...let's have more gatherings, Consular Corps! We get so much out of it!
So I think if one wants to get a real feel for the Sydney pop-culture vibe, one has to plug into the city's beach scene (which I'm doing), its sports scene (which I'm about to do right now), and its club scene (which I will never do because from youth I was never cool or comfortable enough to be let or hang out at any hot spot)(and even if I try to start clubbing now, I'll easily be the oldest guy in the room grooving, and no one wants to see that)
Anyway, sports watching is something I can and want to do, and Sydney has plenty on offer. And just to belabor the Sydney v London angle quickly: the fans in both cities are fun and loud, but the events down under play under better weather, and there's a whole lot to enjoy and experience here beyond EPL angst.
To wit: Aussie Rules! Oh, does it ever! I remember years ago I would change the channel whenever Aussie Rules highlights would come up on CNN World Sport -- there was just something about the players' tight sleeveless uniforms and referees' finger guns that I found...off. Having just seen an Aussie Rules match live and up close, however, I can say the whole spectacle is in fact amazing, and even the uniforms now fit right in in this era of sleek Under Armour performance suns-out-guns-out bro-wear.
The finger guns, however, still feel...off
The game I saw was an AFL match between local side Sydney Swans and Melbourne-suburb based Collingwood Magpies. It was a late season affair and both sides were fighting to make the playoffs. The Sydney franchise is a storied one, relocated from Melbourne in the 80's as part of Aussie Rules' nationwide expansion, and once went over 70 years between championships but won one as recently as 2012.
So bandwagoners still welcome
Collingwood, meanwhile, well....as my match companion explained "You have to be BORN a Collingwood supporter -- no one would ever CHOOSE to become one and subject themselves to all hate and abuse." Apparently, the Magpies are historically the most resented team in the league, a state brought about by their periodic success, working-class roots and, um, "passionate" and "eclectic" fans.
Basically they're Raider Nation. Or Bgy. Ginebra.
The teams also showcase two of the most intriguing players in AFL: Sydney's Lance "Buddy" Franklin and Collingwood's Mason "American 'Pie" Cox. Franklin is an undisputed superstar, one of the greatest players in Aussie Rules history. He's so good, you can immediately tell he's the best one out in the field even if you've never seen him play before and just know to keep an eye-out for someone named "Buddy".
Joining such other legit one-named superstars as "Lebron" and "Alden"
Cox, on the other hand, is a towering 6'11 former U.S. NCAA basketball player who somehow found his way to AFL after standing out (har!) at a recruiting combine. His height and baller skillz have translated surprisingly well in Aussie Rules, and he may very well represent the future of the entire sport.
Or at least of college centers who kick bricks with tremendous upside
Now I don't need to write any further primer on the Aussie Rules games itself, because it was already so beautifully done by deadspin here. Let me just borrow some lines from the piece and chime in every so often with my personal highlights from the Swans v. 'Pies match:
A player that catches the ball kicked by another player earns the right to make their next move without interference, but otherwise play is mostly continuous. Players can tackle the opposition to stop their progress and to try to win the ball. Play moves forward, backward, and around all 360 degrees of the field. Kicking the ball through the goal earns six points, while other types of scores are worth one point. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins!
Yep yep. I would attempt to describe the Aussie Rules play I saw as having the free flow and movement of basketball, the joy of running of soccer, the athletic majesty of continued American football quarterback-to-wide receiver bombs, and the sustained suspense of a baseball outfielder robbing homeruns at the wall.
with a dash of the chaos of a rousing game of agawan buko.
However, one of the quirks of the game is that the time is kept by officials way up in the grandstand, and the players out on the field don’t have an official countdown clock to consult during play. There is a countdown clock on the TV feed, but while there is an upward-counting timer on each ground’s scoreboard, players are largely left to their own devices to manage the late stages of the game.
Ah, so this is why the guy seated in front of me kept on calling someone on his phone late in the match, then hyper-excitedly telling me "One minute to go! One minute to go!" Thought he ordered us an uber pool or something.
Kick the ball across the plane between the two goal posts without it being touched, and you’ve kicked a goal, worth six points! The goal umpire signals this feat by striding to the midpoint between the goalposts, pausing dramatically for effect, and pointing two finger guns straight forward...If the ball crosses the plane between any two posts in any other manner... and that’s a behind, or “point,” worth one point. The goal umpire signals this by standing directly next to one goalpost, pausing dramatically for effect, and pointing one finger gun straight forward. So, Aussie rules footy is one of the only sports where you can earn points by not kicking it through the goal! These are the only two scoring options. If Team A has kicked 10 goals and three behinds, its score is written as 10.3 (63). This can be verbally stated in a few ways, but “ten goals three, sixty-three” will do fine, as would simply “sixty-three.” (For context, across the AFL in 2016 teams averaged 88 points per game.)
I find this point system ingenious and effective. It lends itself to high scoring, wild rallies/lead-changes, and even some dramatic buzzer beaters. Take my Sydney vs. Collingwood match. (*cue Quinito Henson recap voice*) WATCH as Collingwood takes control early and races out to a 17-point lead at halftime, but WATCH OUT as Sydney storms back in the third quarter and takes a two goal lead into the final chapter but WATCH OUT as Collingwood goes on a run to take a slim lead late but WATCH OUT as Buddy tries to take it back with a clutch free kick
Bud-doink
BUT! after some more agawan buko scrambling a Swan manages to kick it through AT THE BUZZER or reasonably close to it (see, "One minute to go!" above), while lying on the ground!
SWANS WIN! SWANS WIN (*checks scoring system math*) BY TWO!
After a victory, the winning team’s players link arms in the clubrooms and belt out the club song, in one of the more enjoyable traditions of the game. Each team has its own song, but the Richmond Tigers have the best one.
Yeah maybe, because the Sydney Swans' song (har!) is just a cover of the fight song of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (or of the mga La Salista, if you prefer)
Still, great fun all around!
(Well, unless you're a Collingwood fan, but then, you're used to it. Sydney Swans bandwagon, baby! ).
